Method and apparatus for conducting mining operations



C. W. JENSEN. METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONDUCTING MINING QIERATIONSLAPPLICATION FILED APR.24, I9I9.

'1 ,332,986. Patented Mar. 9, 1920. I

4' SHEETS-SHEET I.

c. w. JENSEN. METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONDUCTING MINING OPERATIONS.APPUCATIQN FILED, APR-24, l9l9.

1,332,986. v Patented Mar. 9, 1920.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

C. W. JENSEN.-

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONDUCTING MINING OPERATIONS.

APPLICATION FILED, APR.24, 1919.

1,332,986. Patented Mar. 9,1920.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

lwuwtoz 86ml [0. 8/766]? C. W. JENSEN. METHOD AND APPARATUS FORconoucnne MINING OPERATIONS.

APPLiCATION FILED APH.24, I919.

Patented Mar. 9,1920.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

CARL W. JENSEN, OF WINIFRED, MONTANA.

METHOD AND APPARATUS FORCONDUCTING- MINING OPERATIONS.

. Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 9, 1920.

Application filed April 24, 1919. Serial No. 292,437.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that LOARL' W. JENSEN, a citizen of the United States,residing at \Vinit'red, State of Montana, have invented new and useful{Improvements in Methods and Apparatus for Conducting Mining Operations,of which thefollowing is a speci- This invention relates to methods andapparatus for conducting mining operations, having for oneobject toprovide means of a simple and improved nature for moving" masses ofearth. ore, etc., from the mine with the expenditure of a minimum amountof physical labor. I

A further object of the invention is to provide means whereby thelaborious task of shovelingand conveying quantities of ore, etc., inwheelbarrows or other such receptacles may be dispensed with, and by theuse of which the oreproduction is materially in creased and the amountof labor diminished. A still further object of the invention is toprovide means whereby the earth blasted or ug within I the minechamberis delivered directly to a movable receptacle, and whereby thisreceptacle may be so operated as to empty its contents so as to bedistributed to other parts'of the mine for further operation ortreatment.

With these objects in others which will appear as the descriptionproceeds, the invention resides in the novel construction, combinationand arrangement of parts, all as will be described more fullyhereinafter, illustrated in the drawings, and

particularly pointed out in the claims. In the drawingsF- Figure 1 is avertical sectional view taken.

through a mine of conventional form and illustrating the application ofan apparatus constructed in accordance with the inven tion,

just above the mine floor,

Figs. 3 and 4 are detail sectional views of the conveyances used incarrying out the invention and illustrating the manner in which theconveyancesare moved and dumped,

Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of one ,Of the conveyances.

view, together with Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view taken trackbein Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic perspective view of a conveyance andmoving apparatus therefor of slightly modified form.

Fig. 9 is a sectional view on line 9-9 of Fig. 2, a

Fig. 10 is a view similar to Fi 1 and illustrating a slightly differentwayln which stope mining may be carried out in accordance with theinvention, and Y V Fig. 11 is a plan View illustrating a modified formof winding apparatus for causing the,dumpers to move.

In carrying out the invention, the studding employed to support the roofof either the stope or the drift is arranged so as to provide passagestransversely of the level or gallery, and it is my intention to employthe passages thus formed for the accommodation of conveyances or dumpersto carry the mined earth from various points in the passages to thegrizzly, These conveyances or dumpers are of substantially scoop-likeconstruction, and rest upon the floor of the stope or drift. Theseconveyances may be arranged in the stope prior to the blastingoperation, so that the material loosened by blasts will drop either intothe conveyance.

or in the path of the latter. When the conveyances are filled, suitabledraft apparatus is employed to drag the same forward toward the 'zzly,whereupon the conveyances are tilted in such a manner as to deposittheir contents into the grizzly-tobe delivered to cars or. conveyancesin galleries below. The conveyances used in deliver' the minedore to thegrizzlies may be move in any a proved manner, and the invention contempates means whereby these conveyances maybe moved forward or backwardwithout the employment ofmanual labor.

By the use of such mechanism, it is obvious thatthe laborious task ofwheeling the mined orefrom the rear ends of the stopes or drifts to thegrizzlies is eliminated, and a great quantity of ore may be mined anddelivered to the grizzlies'with a minimum amount of labor.

Referring now to the drawings, 10 indicates the conventional minegallery or level, 11 the grizzly, and 12 an overhand stope. The gallery10 has the usual-mine car track to permit of the carsassing thereover,this indicate at 13.

The stu ding in the stope is indicated at 14, and connects with the roofbeams 1 5 as shown, and the studding is arranged within A the stope insuch manner that passages are formed between the various rowsof studdingtransverse to the gallery 10. It will be understood that as the miningoperations progress in the particular stopes, the studding will beerected. The studding in each' row is connected at its lower ends by theplanking 16, and these planks form guide strips for the conveyances tobe hereafter fully described. The conveyances in the preferredembodiment of the invention comprise the'scoop-like structures indicatedgenerally at 17, and these conveyances are of such width as to slidefreely within their respective passages and yet .not to bind therein.The scoops are provided'with upstanding side walls 18 suitably braced asshown, and the rear end of each scoop has hinged thereto a door or gate19. The

doors 19- are suitably braced upon their rear faces as indicated, at 20,and, if desired, the bottoms of the scoops may be provided withlongitudinally'disposed supporting ribs 21. It may be found necessarytoemploy means between the sides of the receptacles or conveyances and theplanking 16 in the mine stope to minimize friction, and rollersindicated at 22 in Fig. may be used for this purpose. These rollers willbe mounted in suitable brackets upon the scoop sides.

Each door 19 has pivotally connected at its upper end as at 23 one endof a short cable or link 24, and this link is preferably ofa lengthequal to that of the scoop. The

.forward end of the link isprovided with an passage beneath the earth ormaterial to be mined, and the door or gate 19 at the rear end of theconveyance rests against the rear wall of the passage, as shown inFig. 1. The material is then mined by blasting or otherwise, and dropsinto the conveyance, as will be understood. The gate at the rear end ofthe conveyance will prevent the rock falling behind the conveyance.After the blasting or earth loosening operation, the cable 27 passingthrough eye 28 and connected to the forward-end of link 24 is ten sionedby operating the Windlass. The

initial movements of the Windlass will cause the ate 19 to move toclosed position, and

furt er winding of the cable will cause theconveyance to slide forwardlyupon the floor of the passage. When the forward end of.

the conveyance nears the grizzly, the hook 26 in. the cable is detachedfrom eye 25 in the link and is then detached from the eye 28. The hook26 is then reengaged in eye 25 of the link, whereupon further windingofthe drum 29 will cause the pull to be directed upon the door or gate 19.A stop or abutment 31 is arranged in the path of the conveyance at theedge of the grizzly, and tightening of the cable 27 will cause theconveyance to ride up at its rear end as shown in Fig. 4; thestop 31acting as a fulcrum for the scoop. The contents of the scoop will, whenthe scoop reaches the proper inclination, slide forwardly into thegrizzly, whereupon such contents is distributed tothe level or levelsbelow. Any material conveyed by the scoop which is of such bulk as cannot pass through the grizzly may be broken up by the mine operators.After the contents of the scoop has been dumped, the said scoop may bemoved. rearwardly in the stope for further use.

To prevent themined ore lodgin in the channels formed between the plan'11g 16 upon the studding, suitable covers such as the boards or planks32 may be placed upon the upper edges of the planks 16 between thevarious stanchions 14.

After the conveyance has been dumped in the manner described, it may bemoved back for further use manually, ,or a de- 34 suitably securedwithin the passage and above the floor thereof, and the free end of thiscable is connected as by means of a hook 385 to the eye 28 at theforward end of the scoop. It is obvious, therefore, that when cable 27is tensioned the conveyance will move forwardly, while the cable 33-will pay out. Reverse movement of the drum 29 will cause the cable 33 tobe wound upon the drum while the cable 27 is paid out. This simpleapparatus permits of the conveyance being readily mov'ed'in eitherdirection.

In'Fig. 7 of the drawings the invention is illustrated 'as .applied to aconventional drift, and in this instance prior to the diggingorblastingoperation the door or gate 19 is dropped at the rear of thedrift so as to receive the ore broken from thewall thereof. To eliminatethe possibility of a dead center between the eye 23 and the Windlass.

a block or beam 35 may be placed upon the floor of the drift beneath thesaid gate. The operation of the apparatus in drift mining is similar tothat described in connection with stope mining above defined.

In Fig. 10 there is illustrated a modification showing how stope miningmay be carried on as the depth of the mine increases. As the stope iscut away the floors therein are moved up, as is familiar to thoseacquainted with such mining operations. In suchinstances, the cars orcarriages containing the winding apparatus are moved to the floordirectly below the miners floor, as are the buckets or conveyers to beemployed in transporting the ore to the chute. The miners floor may beprovided with removable sections as indicated at 50, and the conveyers17 are moved beneath the removable sections of the miners floor toreceive the ore dislodged or broken away by the blast. After the blastthe dumpers or conveyers may be operated by the Windlass to move thesame forwardly -to the chute. At 51 in Fig. 10 the forward end of theslideway for the dumper is showncut away so as to permit of the dumpertilting therein to deliver its contents to the chute.

When using the apparatus in this manner, the car 30 may be provided witha pair of winding drums 52 and 53, which are loosely mounted upon thesupporting shaft 54:. This shaft is provided near one end with a pinion55 in mesh with gear 56 aflixed to the drive shaft of motor 57. Theshaft 54 is provided with clutches 58 and 59, which may be operated bythe link mechanism 60 to'move alternately into engagement with theirrespective winding drums. The cable 61 on drum 52 passes over ulley 63secured in the ceiling of the muc ers floor and near the rear endthereof, and this cable then passes forwardly and downwardly and isconnected as at 64to the forward end of the dumper. The cable 65 upondrum 53 is connected to the hinged door19 at the rear end of the dumper.With the clutches in the position shown in Fig. 11, operation of themotor will cause the cable 61 to be wound upon its drum 52, while drum53 is free to unwind. Winding of the cable 61 causes the dumper to bemoved rearwardly until positioned at the rear end of the stope. Themotor is then stopped, and after the dumper 17 has been filled with orethe clutch 59 is moved into engagement withdrum 53 and the motor isstarted. This operation causes cable 65 to' be wound upon drum -53,first moving door 19 to raised position, and then pulling the dumper 17forwardly, the cable 61 paying out duringsuch operation. Thedumper 17moves down inclined surface 51 the proper distance to cause the contentsthereof to be discharged into the chute.

From the foregoing it is obvious that I have provided means of a simplenature for carrying out successfully the mining operation, and one inwhich the use of manual labor is to a great extent eliminated orreduced. The conveyances may be made in 'veyances into the dump varioussizes, depending largely upon the character of the mining operations tobe performed, as well as the size and construction of the passagesformed between the studding. In instances where the passages between therows of studding are tortuous,

it will be understood that guide means for the draft cable 27 will beemployed in the passages.

.While the above is a description of the preferred embodiment of theinvention, it is to be understood that the invention is not necessarilylimited thereto, as various changes in the minor details of constructionsubdividing the drift or stope into passages arranged transversely tothe level or gallery, arranging between said passages and the level orgallery a dump passage leading to the gallery or level below, arrangingconveyances in said passages movable along the floors thereof betweenthe mining and dumping points, breaking down the material in thepassages and filling the conveyances therewith, moving said conveyancesb means under control from the level or ga lery from the mining to thedumping point, and then dumping the contents of the conpassage fortravel to the gallery or level below.

2. A mining apparatus comprising-a receptacle disposed adjacent, to thematerial to be mined to receive such material, a windlass in the path ofsaid receptacle and be.

the material to be mined to receive the same, guide doors on saidreceptacles to direct material thereinto, a draft cable to be connectedto each door, and a stop in the path of said receptacles.

4. In a mining apparatus, a conveyance arranged upon. the floor of thedrift or stope and adapted to receive the material mined, a doorhingedly connected to one end of the conveyance, a link connected tosaid door, an eye secured to said receptacle below the point ofconnection of the link with the door, a draft cable detachably connectedto said link and passing through said eye, and a stop in the path ofsaid conveyance.

5. In a mining apparatus, a conveyance slidably arranged within a driftor stope,"

rality of receptacles arranged adjacent to a gate horizontally hingedupon said conveyance at the rear end thereof, an eye at the forward endof said conveyance and at the bottom thereof, a link connected at oneend to said door, an eye at the opposite end of said link,the said linkbeing of substantially the same length as the conveyance, a draft cable,a hook at oneend of said cable, the said cable being passed through theeye at the forward end of said conveyance and vengaged with the saidlink eye, and a stop in the path of said conveyance.

6. In a mining apparatus, a grizzly arranged between a stope or driftand a level, a stop adjacent to said grizzly and in the stope or drift,a conveyance arranged within the stope or drift to. receive the materialmined, and means within the level for moving the conveyance mtoengagement with the stop.

7. In a miningapparatus,a muckers floor, a miners floor disposed abovethe muckers floor, said miners'floor having removable sections,a carrierslidably arranged upon the muckers floor and beneath the said remov ablesections of the miners floor, and means for moving the carrier in twodirections.

8. In mining apparatus, a movable carrier, a movable body having a motorthereon, a shaft operatively connected with said motor, drums looselymounted on said shaft,

clutches adapted to alternately engage with the said drums, a cable onone of said drums connected to the carrier to move the latter in onedirection when the drum shaft is rostope or drift, a conveyance arrangedwith in the stope or drift to receive the material mined and having aguide door to direct the material thereinto, and means within the levelfor closing the door of the conveyance,

and moving said conveyance into engagco ment with the stop and tiltingthe conveyance to discharge the material into the grizzly.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

CARL 1W. JENSEN.

